Chief, a massive Belgian/quarter horse, made a prime candidate for a slaughterhouse after he bucked his owner and showed fear of anyone but his trainer, Cheyenne McCann.
McCann, desperate to find a home for the horse, turned to the Colorado Horsecare Foodbank for hay to help cover Chief’s expenses until he could be relocated.
“I felt like I was between a rock and a hard place,” McCann said. “They had hay right when I came back with him. They did that for anybody.”
But that option for Colorado’s horse owners in need has come to an end. After 10 years as an emergency equine food bank, the nonprofit based in Evergreen closed its barn doors on Dec. 31.
The Colorado Horsecare Foodbank provided horse owners with three to six months of hay while they got back on their feet. The food bank galloped to the rescue in 2013 when horse owners needed help after the Black Forest Fire in El Paso County and floods that ravaged Boulder County and other parts of the Front Range. It served around 300 clients per year until operations slowed in 2017.
Juliana Lehmanfounded the organization after the 2008 recession when other horse owners struggled to keep their animals after losing jobs. With the help of a handful board members and volunteers throughout the state, she ran the food bank.
“No one should have to send a horse away forever because of a temporary problem,” Lehman said.
Now, though, Lehman is ready to retire. And there’s no one else willing to take over the food bank.
“I’ve put my heart and soul into this but it’s time,” Lehman said. “I’m 67 years old and my husband and I are traveling.”
Liza Jackson was another owner who was helped by the food bank.
Veterinarians told Jackson, 60, she should put down her chocolate-brown quarter horse, Nash. He is diabetic and had bone chips in one of his knees, Jackson said.
Nash had two surgeries to remove the chips but one was botched. A shard was still in his knee, and Jackson needed $15,000 to pay for a third surgery.
“I sold everything for Nash. By then, I was broke,” Jackson said. “Someone told me about the Food bank and they gave us hay while I saved up for his surgery.”
The operation was successful and Nash went back to being a therapy horse for special needs children.
“Their help meant the world to me,” Jackson said. “He’s like a giant dog. He’s kind and he loves to play with cattle. I love him more than anything.”
Alternatives to the food bank exist. Owners can get hay from the Dumb Friends League but not at the same scale.
Lehman is frustrated that no one has taken over the organization from her. She understands that it seems daunting but doesn’t think that’s a reason to let it die.
“I’ve called individuals, other organizations. No one’s interested,” Lehman said. “Why has no one bought it? That’s the million dollar question, let me know if you have an answer.”
